Your Red Cross Update

By Pooja Klebig, American Red Cross Regional Communications Director

Like many evenings, my husband and I had settled in to catch a few minutes of the nightly news before heading to bed the evening of July 21st. One of the news stories focused on the “Little Fire” burning in the Sunol and Pleasanton area.

As I scrolled through Instagram, I saw updates from friends who lived in the Pleasanton area who had safely evacuated. I found myself hoping the fire would live up to its name and remain small. But as meteorologists talked about increasing winds, I couldn’t help but think about the 2025 wildfires in Los Angeles and how quickly things took a turn.

Just a few minutes later, my husband’s phone buzzed with a notification: a vegetation fire had been reported near South San Jose and Morgan Hill, not far from where we live.

Our two children were sound asleep and at first, we didn’t think much of it knowing that it was just a vegetation fire. But a couple minutes later, we smelled wafts of smoke. My husband decided he’d drive around the neighborhood to get a better sense of the situation to decide what action we’d need to take, if any.

He grabbed his keys, headed out the front door and…was back within seconds. “Uhh, I don’t need to drive anywhere,” he said. “You can see the fire from our front yard.”

“What?!!” My heart raced.

I jumped off the couch, slipped on my shoes and ran outside. There it was. The glow of flames was visible from our neighborhood, burning on a hill we hike regularly.

Suddenly, all the questions started racing through my mind.

The wind was picking up. How quickly could the fire spread? Could it jump the hillside? What would happen if it moved closer to homes?

My phone lit up with text messages from neighbors. People began stepping outside, checking in with one another and sharing the same concerns.

One neighbor was listening to fire radio traffic. Another was monitoring the Watch Duty app. Meanwhile, my mind immediately went to our emergency plans and the go-bags we’d need to grab if we had to leave with our children.

As a family, we had talked about preparedness before. We had even practiced what we’d do during the day if we needed to leave in a hurry. But standing outside in the dark and watching the fire burn in the distance quickly made me realize that we hadn’t thought through every detail.

If we had to evacuate in the middle of the night, who would grab our five-year-old and who would grab our one-year-old? Who would grab the go-bags? Did I place my hard drive with over a decade of pictures in the go-bag? We had moved into our home only nine months earlier and, while we had discussed what to generally do in an emergency, there were clear gaps I was afraid we hadn’t thought through until this very moment.

Thankfully, first responders had moved quickly. Within a relatively short period of time, the fire was contained, and crews remained on scene over night to monitor conditions.

In speaking with a local firefighter afterward, he shared that more than 150 firefighters helped battle the 27-acre fire, protecting nearby residential and commercial structures. Friends who lived on the other side of the hill told us they watched fire engines staging in their neighborhood and filling water tanks from nearby hydrants as crews worked to contain the flames.

I was grateful that this “little fire” was put out quickly. But it sure did leave a lasting impression.

Preparedness can sometimes feel like one more thing on an already full to-do list. Between work, household chores, countless school activities and everything in between that fills our calendars, it’s easy to assume we’ll figure out what actions we’ll take when an emergency occurs.

This experience reminded me that emergencies don’t wait for a convenient moment. It reminded me that preparedness is as simple as talking through a plan with my family and then adjusting it to plan for what to do during the day and also what to do if an emergency occurs in the middle of the night. Knowing who grabs the kids. Knowing where our most precious items are stored. Updating and having our go-bags ready. Ensuring our kids understand what they can do without causing panic. Practicing where our meet up spot is in the neighborhood in case we get separated. I’m certain these small actions can make a big difference when we least expect it and bring us peace of mind.

I’m grateful for the firefighters and responders who protected our community that night, as well as those who responded to the Little Fire in Sunol.

My lessons learned: The best time to make a plan and practice it is before I need one. And also, how lucky am I to know the Red Cross makes it easy to make those plans with my family: redcross.org/prepare.